


Do You Need a Hug?

by solomivan



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Comfort, Comfort No Hurt, Don't copy to another site, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Guilt, Insomnia, Nail Polish, POV Third Person Limited, Post-Canon, Survivor Guilt, Tea, Teddy Bears
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:21:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24054316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/solomivan/pseuds/solomivan
Summary: Mako helps Mei to cope with her nightmares.
Relationships: Aleksandra "Zarya" Zaryanova/Mei-Ling Zhou, Junkrat | Jamison Fawkes & Roadhog | Mako Rutledge, Roadhog | Mako Rutledge & Mei-Ling Zhou
Comments: 14
Kudos: 18





	Do You Need a Hug?

**Author's Note:**

> A/N All characters and the world owned by Blizzard, and I do not claim any ownership over them. 
> 
> McHanzo, R76, and rocket angel are mentioned. 
> 
> I'm very grateful to my beta [kuchi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuchi)

Mako woke up during the night. He wanted to spend some time out in the fresh air to try to forget about his occasionally recurring nightmares. The sleeping pills administered by Dr Ziegler helped with his troubles, but not always. Due to his mutated metabolism, he digested drugs very quickly, and therefore they often had only a short-term effect. Dr Ziegler had warned him she couldn't increase the dosage because it might lead to an overdose. Mako noticed that in her office there were similar medicines for almost everyone, according to the labels on the bottles in the opened cabinet. 

As Mako walked through the corridor he saw that the rooms for couples had signs on the doors for both inhabitants: Angela Ziegler and Fareeha Amari, Jesse McCree and Shimada Hanzo, Jack Morrison and Gabriel Reyes, and more. 

Because Mako was a bodyguard for his friend Jamison, he also shared his room with him. Jamison was very hyperactive, thus he often fell asleep from his tiredness. But besides that, he had felt much better since his recruiting to Overwatch and had almost stopped taking his anti-anxiety drugs. 

When Mako walked past Aleksandra and Mei's room, he saw a red indicator near Mei's nameplate on the door. It meant that she was absent, probably being busy in her lab. Mako respected Aleksandra since he discovered she was in the front lines fighting against omnics and had ripped her particle cannon off one of them. Her people won the war. Yes, they suffered enormous losses during it, but at least their country wasn't a wasteland like a significant part of his was. 

The devastation in Australia was his fault. He and his friends created a liberation front to destroy enemies, to whom his land with his town was gifted. These rebels blew up the reactor core, causing a massive fallout which resulted in heavy radioactive poisoning and many deaths, including Jamison's parents and the rest of his group. He still hoped Jamison wouldn't find out that information and therefore start to hate him. 

Mako went to the balcony with chairs and turned on the light. It was his favourite place to be alone and try to cope with his past. To his surprise, he found that Mei occupied one of the chairs, staring out into the distance and hugging herself. He heard her mutter, "It was my fault. If I didn't suggest that idea, my team would be alive." 

She continued quietly talking to herself, "Maybe there was another choice, safer and more reliable. I just wanted to solve the problem and make sure my colleagues and I survived. Instead, I killed them." Mei closed her eyes for a second and began repeating her lines. For Mako, it was a parallel to his own feelings. 

He sat on the chair next to Mei. This motion attracted Mei's attention. She stopped her actions, embarrassedly looked away, then turned her head from Mako. He registered that and said through his gas mask, "You did nothing wrong." 

She replied with a weak smile, "Thanks. It was just an episode. It happens sometimes." Mei was silent for a second, before adding, "I'm so sorry. I was sure I could control it." 

"Maybe it will be better if I return to my lab and don't keep you from your issues," she told Mako, getting up from the chair a little with clear intentions to leave. 

He objected, reaching out to her, "It's okay not to be okay. Everyone has bad memories. If you want, I can give you a hug." Mako suggested this because it always helped Jamison cope with his anxiety. He saw that other Overwatch members also used cuddles for consolation: Angela and Fareeha, Ana and Hana, Zenyatta and Genji… 

"I didn't know that you were such a big softy. Yes, you can." She stood up and came closer to him. 

Mako bent to reach Mei due to their height difference, which was half a meter. He wrapped his arms around her and began slowly rocking her back and forth with small motions. He hummed the melody of the famous lullaby _"Hush, Little Baby"_. 

Mako recalled his first impressions regarding Mei. She was cute and friendly with each member of the Overwatch team. She worked hard and was helpful in the HQ and during missions. Mei looked like she had no troubles in her past. 

Although, Mako frequently noticed that her smile occasionally vanished for a moment and reappeared again. Also, it was often too small or too broad. Jamison demonstrated similar behaviour but more obviously. This was a sign that Mei, as well as many of her colleagues, prefered to hide their internal problems behind a "smile and wave". 

One minute later, Mako finished his consolation and asked Mei, "Are you feeling better?" She nodded and thanked him. Mako suggested preparing tea for both of them. She asked for her favourite half-sweet milk tea with boba in it. It was one more characteristic that she shared with Jamison.

Besides that, Mei wanted to hold her gift from her girlfriend Aleksandra,a teddy bear with a heart in his paws with the word "Zarya" – derived from Aleksandra's surname – written on it. Mei gave Mako her key for this purpose. 

Mako went to the kitchen, filled the kettle and turned it on. He opened the cabinet and got two cups out of there: Mei's, with light blue snowflakes on it and his, which was a little smaller and decorated with a complex white symbol over interchangeable black and red squares. They seemed tiny in his huge hands. 

He put the cups on the table, then reached for tea packages. His was labelled as "The property of Roadhog", whilst hers was marked with her full name, Mei-Ling. It was a double name, not a first and middle name. She had said to call her just Mei, when she introduced herself to the rest of Overwatch. 

Mako left his cup on the table to cool, took Mei's tea, and came to her room. The indicator showed that Aleksandra wasn't here. He took the aforementioned teddy bear off the bed and looked around. Mei hung several climate research results up on the wall. A work tablet and a bottle of azure nail polish were on the bedside cabinet. 

Aleksandra's half of the room was similar, albeit with some differences: sports posters instead of scientific graphs, her bright pink nail varnish, a barbell along with dumbbells on the floor near her bed. Mako and Jamison liked to use nail enamels too, fuchsia and magenta, respectively. It was beautiful and distracted enemies for several moments, giving an additional advantage during combat. Jamison always dyed nails on his both hands — his healthy left and prosthetic right. 

When Mako returned to Mei, he found that she had fallen asleep in her chair. Thus, Mako came back to the room, noticed that Aleksandra still wasn't here, and quietly put the cup and teddy bear on Mei's nightstand. After that, he went again to the balcony, picked her up and carried her in his arms. He put her on the bed and covered her with a blanket. He closed the door, walked to the kitchen, slowly drank his tea, and headed towards his room to continue his sleep.


End file.
